"I find craft beer always tastes like fennel," he says. "I always thought craft beer was men drinking VB while making something out of balsa wood."

Sydney drinking holes are very much a feature of Ruben Guthrie, a dark comedy-drama written and directed by Cowell based on his 2008 play of the same name. The film will open the Sydney Film Festival in June.

Basement whisky den the Baxter Inn and Bondi Icebergs are among the venues making an appearance as the story follows the titular character, a moneyed advertising whiz-kid and party boy with a model girlfriend who tries to quit drinking.

The city is very much a part of the film, says Cowell, but it's not the stereotypical tourist sheen of the harbour and beaches. Instead, it's the dirt and darkness beneath the city's glamour, what he calls the "ugliness" beneath the beauty.

"Sydney is as beautiful and tempting as it is dangerous. If you buy into the whole Sydney thing, it will reveal its teeth. It's a temptress in that way and I wanted to depict that," he says.

"You can get caught up in what it prioritises, which is aspiration, big beautiful houses, great bodies and self-belief, and underneath that, the real stuff is ignored."

Patrick Brammall plays the beleaguered Guthrie, among a cast that includes Alex Dimitriades, Abbey Lee, Robyn Nevin and Jack Thompson. Filmed over five weeks last year, the $2.5 million production highlights the "ugly struggles of the beautiful people", he says.

Patrick Brammall has the lead role in Ruben Guthrie. Credit:Mark Rogers

The play, originally staged at Belvoir, was based on Cowell's own attempt to have a break from alcohol for a year after over-doing it. What was most fascinating about the experience, he says, was the Wake in Fright response from people who found his abstinence "alarming".

Cowell says he hopes the story not only encourages audiences to get people behind those attempting changes, but also make them consider addiction in their own circles.

"People might look at their own families and how addiction has affected their own lives, and maybe take a little moment to consider the national pastime, which is getting smashed."

Ruben Guthrie is the opening night film at the Sydney Film Festival on June 3 at the State Theatre, see sff.org.au.